This document is Brazil's contribution to the preparatory process of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). It presents the country´s views and initial
proposals on the themes and objectives of the Conference. The document was elaborated through
broad discussions within the National Commission for Rio+20, and based on extensive
consultations with Government institutions and multiple stakeholders from Brazilian civil society.

SUBMISSION BY BRAZIL TO THE PREPARATORY PROCESS
RIO+20 CONFERENCE

Brasilia, November 1, 2011

INTRODUCTION 4

Aspects of sustainable development in the world and in Brazil over the past twenty years 5

CHAPTER I - NEW AND EMERGING CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 7

1. Eradication of extreme poverty 7

2. Food and nutrition security 8

3. Equity 8

4. Access to health 9

5. Decent work, job generation, andl croersppoornastieb isloictiya 9

6. Education 10

7. Culture 10

8. Gender and the empowerment of women 11

9. Promoting racial equality 11

10. Reinforcing multilateralism wiptahr tciicviipla tsioocni ety 11

11. The role of the State 12

12. Sustainable production and consumption 13

13. Energy 14

14. Cities and urban development 14

15. Transportation 15

16. Agriculture and rural development 15

17. Promoting innovation and access to technology 16

18. Funding for sustainable development 16

19. Climate change 17

20. Biodiversity 18

21. Combating desertification 18

22. Water 19

23. Oceans, seas, and coastal areas 19

24. Fishing and aquaculture 20

25. Forests 20

CHAPTER II - GREEN ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY
ERADICATION 22

Rio de Janeiro will host the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development,
Rio+20, from May 28 to June 6, 2010, twenty years after the historic 1992 Rio Conference on
Environment and Development - the Earth Summit .

There is widespread national and international expectation that Rio+20 will represent a
once in a generation opportunity to mobilize the political resources required to design a lasting
solution to the international crisis, taking into account the complexity of economic, social and
environmental aspects of development.

To meet this expectation, the Conference mandate, as set out in United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 64/236, must be discharged. It includes addressing new and emerging
challenges of sustainable development (chapter I of this document) and the issues of ?a green
economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication? and the ?institutional
framework for sustainable development? (chapters II and III of this document).

Among the key outcomes to be achieved at the meeting, Brazil - chair of the
Conference, having called for its organization in 2007 - considers that should be:

1 - Permanent incorporation of poverty eradication as an essential element for achieving
sustainable development, with particular emphasis on the human dimension.

2 - Full consideration of the concept of sustainable development in decision-making by
economic, social, and environmental actors, with a view to forging greater synergy, coordination,
and integration among the three pillars of sustainable development and overcoming the continued
prevalence of sector-specific visions, twenty years after sustainable development was declared a
global priority.

3 - Strengthening of multilateralism, with a clear message on the need to adapt the
structure of the United Nations and of other international institutions to the challenge of sustainable
development.

4 - Acknowledgement of the ongoing process of redefinition of the world order and of
changes in the positioning of countries relative to others, with the ensuing implications for global
governance.

The opportunity to address this agenda stems from the ongoing debate on sustainable
development in the United Nations ever since the publication of the Report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Report) in 1987, titled ?Our Common
Future,? in which the concept was described as ?development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.? The United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Earth Summit, built on the concept -
and the multilateral documents signed on the occasion reflected this advance - by focusing on the
balance between economic development, social welfare, and environmental protection,
interdependent pillars of sustainable development. At the World Summit on Sustainable
Development held in Johannesburg, in 2002, the opportunities and challenges of implementing the
decisions stemming from the Earth Summit were identified and included in the Johannesburg Plan
of Implementation.

A full twenty years later, the legacy of Rio, including the Rio Declaration and its 27
Principles, remains relevant, particularly the principle of ?common but differentiated
responsibilities,? through which developed nations are expected to take the lead in addressing the
challenges of sustainable development, given their historic responsibility for the unsustainable use
of global natural resources. The Rio Principles state that developed nations must ensure adequate
supply of financial resources and technology transfer to assist developing countries in achieving
their sustainable development goals.

Agenda 21 recommends practical measures at the international as well as national and
local levels. These measures address the social and economic dimensions of development,
management and conservation of natural resources, strengthening of public participation and means
of implementation of the commitments undertaken, by establishing guidelines and paths for
concrete application of the principles set out in the Rio Declaration. The 40 chapters of Agenda 21
remain current and continue to be a reference for development programmes. In Brazil,
implementation of Agenda 21 through the Commission for Sustainable Development and Agenda
21 Policies (Comissão de Políticas para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável e Agenda 21) and the
establishment of Local Agenda 21 and Local Sustainable Development initiatives are examples of
the relevance and importance of the document for addressing the challenges of sustainable
development.

It is essential that in evaluating the proposals submitted to Rio+20 the discussions be
guided by the principle of non-regression, which rejects retreat on previously undertaken
international commitments. The principle takes on added importance in the light of today?s global
challenges, which demand neither accommodation nor relativism, but innovative and bold solutions
capable of providing a broad and balanced response to the needs underlying the three pillars of
sustainable development. As such, Rio+20 should look to the future and not the past, in an effort to
anticipate the themes and debates of the coming decades.

Confident of the renewed role of the multilateral system as a forum for solutions to the
major global challenges of our day, it is Brazil?s hope that the outcomes of Rio+20 will become an
international reference, indicating an inflection in the way the world is seen.
The outcomes must ensure that all countries feel certain of their ability to implement the
decisions adopted in Rio, based on the creation of appropriate conditions - the necessary financial,
technological, and capacity building resources - to implement these outcomes, establishing a shared
vision of sustainability that will hold true for the coming decades.

Rio+20 is a Conference about sustainable development, not just the environment. The
challenge of sustainability provides an exceptional opportunity to effect a shift in an economic
development model that still struggles to incorporate social development and environmental
protection issues.

The expansion of social frontiers with the creation of mass consumer markets and the
diversification of the world?s Energy mix, through the expanded use of sustainable sources
constitute key elements of this new model. The ?new economy? - of which the world is in
particular need at this time of crisis - is an economy based on sustainability and inclusion.
Sustainability today is no longer a question of idealism, but of realism. There is a
pressing need to redefine the current pattern of development and forge appropriate responses to the
global challenge.

To ensure the success of this shift, all stakeholders must be mobilized: national and
local governments, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs and executives, workers, non-governmental
organizations, social movements, young people, indigenous peoples and traditional communities.

Aspects of sustainable development in the world and in Brazil over the
past twenty years

The situation in the world and in Brazil, in particular, is markedly different today from
that of 1992. The geopolitical reconfiguration of the international order is characterized by the
growing economic dynamism of the emerging countries, driven by the success of anti-poverty
policies and massive expansion of consumer markets. In regard to international governance, greater
balance is sought between the developed and developing nations in the discussions on global
economic and financial questions.

Latin America and the Caribbean have firmly established themselves as region of peace
and democracy. According to ECLAC?s report for Rio+20, the region has made progress on a
number of social fronts since the early 1990s: extreme poverty fell from 48% to 32%; the average
Human Development Index (HDI) climbed from 0.614 to 0.704; income distribution improved (the
Gini index fell from 0.54 to 0.52); the proportion of persons living in inadequate housing declined
from 34% to 23%; the number of people without access to electricity decreased from 18% to 6%;
employment levels expanded from 53% to 58%, a figure all the more impressive considering the
increase in population over the same period. However, the statistics should not be used to mask the
enormous challenges remaining.

On the economic front, the issues of external debt and recurring balance of payment
crises have been mostly resolved; economic growth has been steady; inflation has been effectively
tamed in most countries. Higher prices for Latin America?s key exports have made it possible to
keep trade balances in equilibrium and even surplus, although it is important to note that production
remains largely confined to primary goods and that productivity in some cases continues to lag in
relation to that of developed countries.

On the environmental front, the world has experienced major changes: increases in the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have led to the acknowledgement that global
warming is a critical phenomenon for the future of mankind and an issue to be considered in the
formulation of public policies and development strategies. While unplanned urban growth has
produced adverse effects, the telecommunications revolution - primarily reflected in greater access
to mobile telephones and the expansion of the Internet - has had profound positive effects on the
social and political fields.

According to ECLAC, some of the positive environmental indicators in Latin America
include the increased proportion of protected land areas from 10% to 21%; the drop in CO2 intensity
of emissions from 0.67 to 0.59 (tonnes/dollar of GDP); and the decline in the use of ozone depleting
substances from 75,000 to 5,000 (tonnes/year of ODP - Ozone Depletion Potential).

The most prominent trends in Brazil in recent years have been consistent robust
economic growth closely bound to poverty reduction, rise in formal employment, improved income
distribution, enhanced food and nutrition security, a concerted effort to address climate change -
including voluntary actions and bold sector plans aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions -,
biodiversity conservation, expansion and diversification of the country?s Energy mix, with particular
emphasis on renewable Energy sources, the rise of strong social movements, and advances in gender
equality, among others.

Brazil, however, continues to face challenges consistent with its development stage,
including the need to improve the quality of education, spur scientific and technological progress,
promote more suitable urban growth, and foster greater rural development.

CHAPTER I - NEW AND EMERGING CHALLENGES FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The conceptual basis of Brazil?s contribution to the Rio+20 Conference is the
reinforcement of multilateralism. The proposal to host Rio+20, likewise, symbolizes the Brazilian
Government?s political commitment to multilateralism as the principal long-term solution to the key
global challenges of our age. The outcomes of the Conference should provide the international
community with a clear signal of the importance of multilateral solutions for ensuring that all
countries feel they have been included and their needs addressed.

Yet, the multilateral agenda has been contaminated by deep divisions. As such, any
approaches or outcomes that further exacerbate the gap between developed and developing nations
would be unacceptable, as it would preclude the possibility of reaching a consensus at Rio+20. New
patterns of interaction between developed and developing nations are necessary, and Brazil firmly
believes in the possibility of countries working together in partnership, without surrendering their
sovereign right to make choices based on their particular circumstances, capabilities, and needs.
The central question Rio+20 will have to answer refers to the type of development we
seek. In this light and based on the underlying goal of strengthening the multilateral system,
elements capable of bringing countries together must be found. There is no shortage of unifying
elements. One with particular potential to marshal efforts and generate consensus is technological
innovation for sustainability. The issue will require a broad global agreement on the need to
generate and disseminate technologies for sustainable development. A global agreement on that
would have the power to bring together developed and developing countries, since technological
innovation is able to respond to the growing needs of developing countries and to the need for
changing unsustainable production and consumption patterns.

Brazil identifies three key issues directly related to technological innovation: i) Energy
security, with emphasis on sustainable sources; ii) food and nutrition security, including the issue of
access to water and to technological innovation for agricultural production; and iii) the role of
biodiversity resources in social inclusion, such as the production of pharmaceuticals for health,
through the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and the fair and equitable
access to the benefits of biodiversity.

Rio+20 should be an essentially inclusive process in which economic, environmental,
and social considerations are given equal weight. In this regard, the concept of technological
innovation also encompasses social technologies, an area in which Brazil has made significant
strides in recent years.

Based on a series of discussions between government and society, Brazil?s contribution
document presents the issues that Rio+20 cannot overlook, which lie at the heart of the inclusive
sustainable development we seek for the planet. These issues are listed below.

1. Eradication of extreme poverty

The eradication of extreme poverty is a necessary condition for achieving the goals of
sustainable development. This consensus, as expressed in Principle 5 of the Rio Declaration and
other documents, has constituted the basis for a series of international initiatives and processes
aimed at combating poverty, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This priority
is also reflected in the substantial body of national policies implemented in recent decades to
combat extreme poverty.

Yet, the tangible results of some initiatives adopted throughout the world to eradicate
extreme poverty have proved inconsistent and insufficient. While some countries, such as Brazil,
have achieved significant progress in reducing poverty and inequality through expansion of the
social safety net and incorporation of large segments of the population into the productive economy,
a large number of countries have registered disappointing and limited progress. The disparity in
implementing poverty eradication commitments cannot be addressed as a separate issue
disconnected from the sustainable development agenda, but must be examined together with the
development model pursued.

The international commitment to reduce extreme poverty is a core component of the
right to development shared by all countries. Rio+20 should contribute to these efforts and
strengthen international initiatives to combat poverty, supplementing the programmes already in
place. Eradicating poverty is not enough, but it conditions global capacities to build a fairer and
more equitable world and provides a benchmark for evaluating and addressing all issues and
proposals considered at Rio+20.

2. Food and nutrition security

The primary cause of food and nutrition insecurity is lack of income to ensure access to
food, and not insufficient food production, which is in fact enough to feed all mankind.
The current food and nutrition security scenario is marked by high food prices due to
factors ranging from financial speculation in agricultural commodities to climate change. Although
the growth in food demand in developing countries contributes to the rise in international prices, it
also shows the success of social inclusion policies and generates opportunities for long-term
increases in production, with positive impacts on employment and income stability in these same
developing countries.

The Brazilian State has sought to consolidate the right to food. A major challenge is
ensuring that public policies operate in an integrated and cross-sectoral fashion, with a view to
fostering initiatives that extend from food production - in which the family farming segment must
be included and valued - to food consumption. Integration enables the challenges of environmental
conservation, adaptation to climate change, and the pursuit of greater social justice to be addressed.
As with all other public policies, those aimed at food and nutrition security cannot
succeed without broad social participation. Brazil believes participation is a condition sine qua non
for economic and social development with environmental protection, at the national and
international level alike.

At the international level, Brazil?s food and nutrition security strategy consists of two
dimensions: structural and humanitarian. The structural dimension seeks to promote the food and
nutrition security model successfully adopted in Brazil?s socioeconomic programmes (land reform,
rural development, credit, infrastructure, technical assistance, insurance, storage, minimum price
policies, commercialization, agroecological systems, and others), with social participation in their
formulation, execution, follow-up, and evaluation. Through the humanitarian component, Brazil
aims to contribute to ensure food security for populations in other countries, in particular through
food donations, always at the formal request and by consent of the recipient State.

3. Equity

Equity is an issue that should go beyond the outcomes of Rio+20. The concept should
be considered more broadly than the idea of inter-generational equity enshrined in 1992 to include a
more expansive definition of equity, within a country and between countries. The idea of equity
cuts across a number of new and emerging challenges, including gender, race and ethnicity,
consumption, access to Energy, decent work, food and nutrition security, and others. It should be
reflected in the decisions adopted on these issues and in any new goals or indicators for measuring
progress and development. Additionally, the international mechanisms arising from the Conference
should closely follow the advances in equity at the global level.

4. Access to health

In the context of the efforts required to implement sustainable development policies,
health - as a universal human right - has gained increasing prominence. Social protection and
promotion policies in the field of health should be given priority, given their benefits to social
welfare, the economy, and the environment.

Health systems should include social participation and continuous dialogue between
society and government on public policies, with a view to forging effective sector governance. As
such, health systems should represent the true coordination between the economic, social, and
environmental pillars of sustainable development.

Among the principal challenges for guaranteeing the right to health are population
ageing, the high incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases, and increased mortality rates
from external causes (accidents and violence). These challenges increase the number of people
requiring continuous and prolonged health services and generate the need for assistive technologies
and medicines that must be determined on the basis of social, economic, and epidemiological
changes in countries, with a view to sustainable development.

A series of factors explains the growing ?globalization? of health. Some problems, such
as disease transmission, extend beyond borders and adversely affect national development efforts.
Other factors relate to funding. Recent international trends have expanded funding to combat what
are referred to as neglected diseases. However, an enduring challenge is the shortage of drugs, often
produced by private laboratories and sold at prices unaffordable to poor countries, as is the case
with HIV/AIDS medications. The difficulty in accessing medications is also due to the absence of
research and innovation on communicable diseases, primarily those linked to poverty, such as
malaria, dengue fever, and cholera.

Recognition of traditional and popular medicine, especially in developing countries, can
contribute to progress in these areas, given the close connection between traditional knowledge and
practices and environmental and biodiversity resources, while fostering the social inclusion of
traditional communities in the health supply chain.

5. Decent work, job generation, and corporate social responsibility

Effective implementation of the sustainable development model requires that
incorporation in the productive economy within the framework of decent work be a central goal of
social, economic, and environmental policies, in order to ensure that the changes generate jobs
across the supply chain and, in particular, in strategic and labour-intensive sectors, as part of
poverty eradication efforts.

Significant job creation opportunities can be created through investments in sustainable
land and water management practices, family farming, ecological farming, organic production
systems, sustainable forest management, rational use of biodiversity for economic purposes, and
new markets linked to renewable and unconventional Energy sources. Investments in new
sustainable activities will require capacity building courses and professional training offered under
sector plans that provide workers with access to new formal job positions and higher salaries and
wages.

Working conditions and relations that are at least compatible with the standards
established by the International Labour Organization must be ensured, with a view to improving
these standards to guarantee decent work conditions. In a world of expanding supply chains, it is
natural that companies devote growing attention to the activities of their suppliers. However, the
responsibility of companies for their suppliers should not replace the enforcement duties of the State
nor be used to impose policies and behaviours on suppliers in other countries. The relationship of
companies to their suppliers, under the framework of corporate social responsibility, should be
based on the concept of sustainable companies and decent work, in accordance with local
conditions and priorities.

6. Education

The access of all people to quality education is an essential condition for sustainable
development. Education constitutes a key driver of social inclusion and upward mobility, in
particular when it is democratic and respects diversity.

While expanded access should be pursued at all levels, from pre-school to graduate
studies, educational practices that contribute to changing the patterns of interaction with the
environment must be emphasized. Cross-sectional environmental education programmes should be
fostered. By the same token, professional and vocational training must be geared toward innovation
and the implementation of sustainable production and consumption patterns, placing a premium on
local demands and knowledge.

Strategies aimed at democratizing education and the access to knowledge cannot be
disconnected from the broader process of digital inclusion and the incorporation of new
communications technologies in the learning process. Efforts should be undertaken to reduce
existing disparities in access between countries and between individuals.
Sustainable learning opportunities should promote strategies to develop a culture of
sustainability. Advantage can be taken of these opportunities by adapting existing physical spaces to
sustainable patterns, adopting participatory management processes, and incorporating sustainable
development topics in political educational proposals.

7. Culture

Culture is a signature component in developing a response to the challenges of
sustainability at the global, national, and local levels. The contribution of culture is crucial to
sustainable development, spanning the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. It is in the
cultural sphere that the meaning and spirit of the measures capable of transforming society are
recognized. To this end, consolidation of cultural rights as a component of human rights, access to
culture, guarantee of cultural diversity, and recognition of the knowledge of indigenous and
traditional peoples are essential.

The State and organized civil society have the duty to develop broad and collaborative
measures to strengthen the cultural dimensions of development, based on the construction of fairer
and more conscientious societies. Achieving this goal requires combining cultural, environmental,
educational, health, infrastructure, territorial planning, and other policies.

The Rio+20 Conference should take into account the potential of culture to develop
alternatives to overcome ?consumerism? as a common practice of the current model and to lay the
groundwork for a paradigm shift. Sustainability in the knowledge and information society must
merge the cultural models of diversity, supply chains, and innovative solutions proposed by the
creative economy. Sustainable development should consolidate a cultural citizenship that assures
everyone the right to participate in this transformative process.

8. Gender and the empowerment of women

A UN report reveals that persistent gender inequality is the greatest obstacle to human
development. That inequality, according to the UN, leads to losses of up to 85% in the Human
Development Index (HDI) and reflects sharp differences between rural and urban areas.
Women, however, are central to the success of sustainable development policies,
specially in promoting sustainable production and consumptions patterns. Since they are responsible
for most household purchase and investment decisions, women should be the focus of educational
and awareness-raising policies for sustainable development.
Gender perspective and measures to promote women?s participation in positions of
power should be considered as cross-cutting issues of sustainable development, within the
framework of national public policies and international initiatives. The importance of gender to
sustainable development should be recognized in urban and rural spaces alike, as well as in public
administration and productive activities.

9. Promoting racial equality

All forms of racism are incompatible with sustainable development. For sustainable
development is based on social and economic inclusion with environmental equilibrium and
responsible technology use, in addition to cultural and regional diversity, and participatory and non-
discriminatory decision-making.

The ideology of racism has historically been a fundamental tool for organizing
production systems based not only on unfair labour relations, but also on environmental destruction.
Many of the productive activities of key significance to economic development in the last several
centuries were based on the exploitation of slave labour and predatory use of natural resources.
The economic and social reality of many societies continues to be strongly influenced
by these historical patterns. In many countries, the social groups with the highest poverty levels and
lowest indicators of socioeconomic development and of access to goods and services are those
segments traditionally linked to these forms of exploitation, including Afro-descendants, indigenous
peoples, and migrants. In a vicious circle, expressions of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia,
and all other forms of intolerance are exacerbated by these conditions of poverty and scarcity that
remain constant in specific social groups. From an environmental perspective, these social groups
have often been relegated to lives marked by substandard housing, sanitation, access to water, and
waste management.

Some of these social groups live in traditional communities. Racism has had severe
effects on these communities by invalidating and denying their ways of life and their own
perspectives of development. It is important not only to endeavour on behalf of the right of these
communities to preserve and promote their knowledge and collective forms of organization, but
also to recognize the significance that traditional communities afford to environmental preservation.

10. Reinforcing multilateralism with civil society participation
Civil society participation is essential to strengthen and renew multilateralism. Actively
engaged in most multilateral forums, civil society has been a decisive factor in shaping the debates
on the international agenda, as well as a key participant in discussions and decision-making in
international processes. Civil society?s role in multilateralism has been particularly relevant in
forums devoted to sustainable development, having been instrumental in the consolidation of the
concept during and following The Earth Summit.

Since that time, civil society has assumed an increasingly decisive role in multilateral
forums by enriching discussions, acting as a key driver of social mobilization on pressing issues,
and assisting in the implementation of undertaken commitments and decisions. Civil society?s
enormous capacity for action and reflection could be more effectively integrated in the work of
multilateral organizations, which should endeavour to promote even higher levels of participation.
This question is all the more relevant in the forums dedicated to sustainable development and
should be at the centre of discussions on institutional framework at the Rio+20 Conference.

11. The role of the State

Adoption of a sustainable development model requires substantial investments and
funding from public and private sources, which have been severely limited by the current scenario
of economic crisis and fiscal constraints. In this context, the State must reassert its role as driver and
regulator of development, giving priority to innovative economic practices and productive processes
based on the rational use and protection of natural resources and the incorporation of excluded
population segments into the economy by providing access to employment, decent work, and
income. The State should adopt economic instruments and public policies to remove barriers and
create positive incentives to encourage the productive sector to embrace more sustainable patterns
from an economic, environmental, and social standpoint.

To this end, States should adopt strategies to value environmental resources and
services. By measuring the economic impact of protecting springs on urban water supply or of
protecting forests on rainfall and the ensuing effects on farm production, environmental protection
and conservation assume an economic dimension. The State should then regulate access to natural
resources, in an effort to align economic and social development needs with a natural resource use
that is more democratic, rational, and least harmful possible, with a view to promoting the mutual
reinforcement of economic development and protection of the environment. A good illustration of
this is the adoption of economic instruments to assign monetary values to standing forests as a
sustainable strategy for reducing deforestation and environmental degradation.

Regulation and capacity building of the financial sector are fundamental elements to
ensure the success of these efforts. Through official credit policies, the State can induce more
sustainable and responsible behaviour of economic agents by establishing, for example, public
financing conditions that give preference to projects based on the adoption of more efficient
production models, compliance with the requirements governing decent work, and consideration of
long-term economic sustainability. Private financial agents should be an integral part of these
policies, as they have a direct interest in sustainability, not only due to the demands of shareholders
and customers, but also to the fact that their performance depends on a balanced calculation of
economic, social, and environmental factors. Through an integrated planning effort, the application
of environmental compliance and adaptation criteria in loan and financing concessions in the
agricultural, industrial, Energy, and urban sectors, in conjunction with mechanisms to assist actors
engaged in productive endeavours represents yet another effective tool the financial sector could
deploy to promote a more sustainable economic model.

The State can also exert significant influence on the adoption of more sustainable
models based on the methods it employs to collect and use its revenue. Fiscal policy instruments,
associated to increasing the value of environmental services, occupy, in this regard, a central
position in the State?s policies portfolio, in so far as they can provide positive incentives for the
adoption of more sustainable patterns across the supply chain. Public-private partnerships are
another effective strategy. They aim at attracting larger resource volumes within a framework of
appropriate incentives and tax policies. Public procurement and investment can also play a
significant role in this context.

The State should promote the commitment of both companies and society to the
construction of sustainable development. This process requires knowledge and valuing of local
specificities, compatible regulatory frameworks, regulated demand and markets, access to credit,
and investments in technological research and development.

The State?s role in social inclusion, poverty eradication, and reducing inequality is
equally important. Implementation of policies to encourage formal employment and access to social
safety nets, as well as extensive direct income transfer programmes and delivery and regulation of
public services, are just some of the instruments available to the State to promote social inclusion,
greater participation in the economy, and the exercise of citizenship by the poorest population
segments.

In its efforts to promote sustainable development, the State must also take into account
the role of local officials (in the Brazilian case, at the state and municipal levels), who can
contribute decisively to addressing the challenges of sustainable development faced by local
populations. In this context, the local Agenda 21 processes is of particular importance, as is the
search for innovative solutions capable of being adapted to each specific reality.

A new economy presumes, in regard to sustainable production and consumption
patterns, an ethical global society and transparent nation-States. Strengthening national transparency
systems is today as crucial as the public policies adopted to address climate change or eradicate
poverty and, in fact, constitutes a requirement for the success of these efforts. For this purpose it is
essential to promote ethical principles and mechanisms to combat corruption within the scope of the
United Nations Convention against Corruption.

12. Sustainable production and consumption

Current production and consumption patterns, which are natural resource intensive and
frequently inefficient in the use of those resources, are unsustainable in the medium and long terms.
Only if these patterns are reversed will a greater number of people achieve adequate levels of social,
environmental, and economic welfare. Developed countries should take the lead in promoting the
necessary changes, not only due to their historic responsibility for prevailing consumption habits,
but also to the unsustainable natural resources use in their production processes.
Paragraph 15 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation recommends the
establishment of a 10-year action plan led by developed countries to support regional and national
initiatives aimed at accelerating the shift to sustainable consumption and production. In response to
the recommendation, in 2003 the United Nations launched, through the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP), the ?Marrakesh Process on Sustainable Production and
Consumption.?

The set of programmes developed under the Marrakech Process provided the elements
for a proposal to address the issue, which was submitted to the United Nations Commission on
Sustainable Development (CSD), with a view to giving the initiative a political dimension and
facilitating the determination of programme implementation mechanisms.
Based on this experience, international discussions on the issue should be revived to
resolve outstanding conceptual matters and to establish funding and technology transfer
commitments, as well as implementation arrangements. The goal, therefore, is that as Global Pact
on Sustainable Production and Consumption be adopted at Rio+20 guided by the progress achieved
under the Marrakesh Process.

13. Energy

It is possible to establish incentives and promote regulatory and institutional reforms to
expand the use of renewable energies while ensuring the supply of and access to Energy sources for
populations, particularly those in developing countries and in the least developed countries. Among
the renewable energies with potential to generate jobs and spur development are hydroelectric
power, biomass-based cogeneration of electric power, wind and solar power, and other non-
conventional sources such as solid wastes, microalgae and effluents. The need to implement
measures to foster increased Energy efficiency should also be considered.

Improvements in the technologies used to produce cleaner vehicle fuels should be
pursued through increased investments in research, development, and innovation, in particular in
projects aimed at large-scale production and distribution. Fuel quality bears a direct relation to
pollution levels. Encouraging the use of high-quality renewable fuel sources will contribute
significantly towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Biofuels offer a sustainable alternative with demonstrated potential to mitigate climate
change and positive effects on emissions, access to Energy, and economic development. The
expansion of sustainable biofuel production could promote general welfare in urban areas, through
reduced atmospheric pollution, and in rural zones, where it would act as a driver for economic,
social, and environmental development.

14. Cities and urban development

In the context of sustainable development, it is essential to determine the role of cities,
the predominant form of human settlement in contemporary life encompassing both the world?s
political and economic nerve centres and the loci for the dissemination of consumption patterns,
knowledge, and technological information. The world needs to develop a new pattern of urban
occupation, stemming the unplanned urban expansion in megacities and strengthening governance
of small, medium, and large cities through the delivery of services capable of assuring quality of life
and income for local populations.

Some of the primary challenges to the development of sustainable cities include:
designing policies aimed at integrated planning; fostering sustainable construction, Energy
efficiency, and reduced water consumption in buildings, with the support of research and the
democratic access to new technologies, as well as implementation of environmentally-friendly
modern technologies; and progressive (re) qualification of social interest housing projects based on
the three basic pillars of sustainable development and cultural diversity, in addition to urban and
architectural solutions, while providing and maximizing local bio-geo-climatic conditions and
promoting social and environmental justice. Furthermore, public policies should prioritize high-
quality public transportation, accessibility, sanitation, waste treatment, restrictions on the
occupation of high-risk areas and low-lying areas along rivers, creation of protected areas, and
increased resilience to the effects of climate change and global environmental changes. Natural
disasters represent an obstacle to inclusive sustainable development. As such, added emphasis
should be given to disaster preparedness and response and to promoting good practices in civil
defence.

In regard to strategies for sustainable cities, specific measures should be adopted for
civil constructions and infrastructure. UN data indicate that the global construction sector accounts
for one-third of all natural resource consumption, including 12% of the world?s fresh water
supplies, and produces up to 40% of the total volume of solid wastes. Promoting sustainability in
urban environments requires that the decisions taken on the acquisition of products used in urban
development projects take into account the multiplicity of economic, environmental, and social
impacts over their entire life cycle. Available information on these impacts is limited, and this lack
of data affects all levels of public and private decision-making at national and international levels.
This scenario acts as a constraint on the commitment of broader social segments - government,
industry, commerce, and consumers in general - to promote sustainability. Rio+20 provides a
suitable political forum to establish and promote global initiatives aimed at filling the gaps in
reliable and shared information on the life cycle evaluations of construction inputs.

In line with the growing attention given to housing policy and to the issue of Energy
efficiency, the discussion on sustainability in global terms must be strengthened, as urban growth
forecasts for the coming decades confirm the need for construction of low-cost housing. According
to United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN Habitat) figures, within 40 years two-thirds
of the world?s population will live in cities, while approximately 70% of global population growth
will take place in developing countries. It is estimated that in 2050, South America will be the most
urbanized region in the world with 91.4% of its population residing in urban centres.

Another question the Conference should address involves the use of sanitary landfills
for Energy production. In addition to electric Energy production, biogas combustion contributes to
reducing greenhouse gases by transforming methane (its principal component) into carbon dioxide,
twenty times less harmful to the environment), as well as mitigating the risk of accidents and
enhancing quality of life in the surrounding areas.

15. Transportation

Sustainable development must encompass measures and policies to strengthen the
sustainability of transportation systems. In urban transportation, sustainability is connected to the
establishment of efficient public transportation systems, such as Bus Rapid Transit,
metro/underground services, trains, light rail and wheel vehicles, and other low emission
alternatives to replace, in large measure, the individual passenger vehicle. These alternatives can
reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, transportation costs, and accidents - directly impacting
public expenditures in health and benefiting, above all, low-income population segments.

In regard to cargo transportation, investments should be directed to diversifying the
transportation mix in a sustainable way, in particular through the expansion and strengthening of
rail lines and water transportation in coasting navigation and inland waterways, in addition to the
construction or refurbishing of existing road systems. The economic and environmental efficiency
of transportation depends on achieving greater balance of the transportation mix, with an increased
role for cleaner modes and the efficient integration and combination of the various modes.
Liquid biofuels represent a significant alternative for the transportation sector, both for
ground transportation, with bioethanol and biodiesel, and air transportation, since aviation biofuel is
today at an advanced stage of development.

16. Agriculture and rural development

Agriculture, which is wholly dependent on environmental conditions, is critical to the
development of countries, while contributing significantly to the efforts against climate change. It is
possible to ensure food and nutrition security, and at the same time promote mitigation of emissions
and increased agricultural productivity, reduce production costs, improve natural resource
efficiency, specially water, strengthen the resilience of productive systems, promote the sustainable
development of rural communities, and foster the adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate
change.

To this end, a number of measures are required, including investments in agricultural
research and support and incentives for the adoption of technologies that increase production and
sustainability. Renewed attention of international cooperation efforts to rural development
investments and to the dissemination of meteorological technologies and information geared to
tropical agriculture is of particular importance. Furthermore, unsustainable agricultural subsidies
provided by developed countries that distort the market and render production in less developed
nations unfeasible should be eliminated. Among the outcomes that this special emphasis on rural
areas should produce are increased sustainable production, stronger food security, and the creation
of jobs, work, and income. Food and fibre production is carried out on several scales and is
adaptable to sustainable production systems based on low carbon emission agriculture, recovery of
degraded pasturelands, organic agriculture, and planted forests, in order to increase the productivity
and protection of natural forests. These actions are undertaken in the various productive segments
ranging from large-scale producers to small farmers.

Rio+20 should pay special attention to the role of family farming, which in most
countries accounts for a large share of rural land occupation and of agricultural production. Family
farming stimulates the use of more balanced productive processes, such as crop diversification,
reduced use of industrial inputs, sustainable genetic resource use, and agroecology. Family farming
has the potential to be an example of sustainable development when implemented in an
environmentally friendly, economically feasible, socially fair, and culturally appropriate manner.
In this light, governments should adopt a set of policies that extend beyond the
traditional focus on agricultural production to include the creation of income guarantee mechanisms
for farmers and family farming units.

17. Promoting innovation and access to technology

It is imperative to strengthen the scientific, technological and innovation capacities of
States to promote sustainable development. International efforts to disseminate scientific
knowledge, promote capacity building for human resources, and enable joint development of clean
technologies are essential to foster greater Energy efficiency and reduce environmental impacts of
production processes, as well as to eliminate poverty through universal access to the benefits of
scientific and technological development.

Universal access to broadband Internet service, research into economically sustainable
use of forest resources, popularization of science, development and diffusion of social technologies,
and introduction of clean technologies in production processes are key elements in this area.
Intellectual property plays a significant role in fostering technological innovation. Brazil
recognizes international protection of intellectual property rights provided for primarily in the Trade
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of the World Trade Organization. Brazil
also recognizes that in some cases intellectual property can create barriers to the dissemination and
transfer of clean or socially relevant technologies, such as medicines.

Proposals like the establishment of ?patent pools? and funds to finance the transfer of
clean technologies and their development in developing countries offer promising opportunities and
should be discussed at the Conference. However, these solutions shall not replace the flexibilities
built into the international intellectual property regime.

18. Funding for sustainable development

The road to sustainable development requires major efforts to mobilize public and
private funding. At the national level, mobilizing the necessary capital demands that States promote
public policies that steer expenditures and investment to sustainable activities from an economic,
social, and environmental standpoint. It is crucial that public-private partnerships be forged to
stimulate sustainable economic activities, particularly in innovative fields and incipient industries
that depend on initial support to reduce risks and create infrastructure.

In the international sphere, it is imperative to apply the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities. The historical responsibility of developed countries (who achieved
their current level of development through an unsustainable economic growth model) and the need
for developing countries to grow on the basis of a different paradigm, at times more complex,
challenging, and costly, should guide international initiatives to fund development in developing
countries on sustainable parameters.

In addition, the coordination and management of international cooperation for
sustainable development must be improved to make it more efficient and transparent. Rio+20
should, to this end, establish international cooperation networks by biome to facilitate the exchange
of best practices.

19. Climate change

The objective of Rio+20 is not to undertake negotiations in the area of climate change:
the regime created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is the multilateral process that Brazil supports and believes should be strengthened.
However, the relationship between climate change and sustainable development is
inescapable. In recent years, all Governments have incorporated climate change in their planning
processes. In this regard, sustainable development offers the most effective response to climate
change.

Adverse natural impacts and effects from climate change are already evident. In general,
low-income countries have been severely affected by natural events, by virtue of inadequate
infrastructure and limited economic and social assistance capacities and because their
disproportionate reliance on economic activities inextricably bound to the natural environment.
The climate question will affect everyone - developed and developing countries alike -
and the latter most severely. While the developed countries bear the major share of responsibility
for emissions over time, it is estimated that the bulk of climate change effects will fall on
developing nations. Investments directed toward the adoption of adaptation measures for the effects
already experienced, including floods, droughts, and wildfires, are necessary to enable timely
responses.

The central priority of developing countries is to meet their immediate social and
economic demands. However, social and environmental questions need not be necessarily
contradictory, quite the opposite is true. Climate change is also an opportunity for the current and
future development of countries. The need to adopt new models can forge a development path that
reduces inequalities and boosts income and that, at the same time, is anchored to an economic
dynamic designed to avoid repeating the patterns of emissions, consumption, and waste that marked
the industrialization process in developed countries. There are a number of tangible climate change
mitigation and adaptation measures that will have a significant influence on the manner in which
countries develop.

Expansion of best practices and dissemination of existing technologies could reduce
emission rates, without adversely affecting economic and social development. The appropriate flow
of public funding, technology transfers, and capacity building initiatives from the developed
countries, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, will be critical
elements in this effort. South-South cooperation opportunities should be considered. Finally, it is
important to note that private financial resources can also contribute to promoting development and
to the large-scale implementation of new clean technologies.

20. Biodiversity

As with climate change, Rio+20 will not include negotiations on biodiversity. Like the
UNFCCC, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity is the multilateral process
supported by Brazil.

However, biodiversity issues should be addressed in the context of sustainable
development. Biodiversity conservation, the sustainable use of biodiversity components, and the
fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from genetic resources and associated traditional
knowledge are measures intrinsically connected to sustainable development. Recent rates of
biodiversity loss in the world illustrate the importance of the issue for all countries.
In nature manifestation of biodiversity is complex, which only underscores the
importance of the systemic conservation of land and aquatic biomes. In this light, the value of
establishing protected areas not just for biodiversity conservation, but also for job and income
generation and improved quality of life, is undeniable.

Biological diversity is related to flood, disease and pest, and nutrient cycle control
systems, all of which are essential to sustaining life. Ensuring these systems function properly
requires guaranteeing the sustainability and protection of all biomes on the planet. Of particular
importance in the Brazilian case are the Amazon, the Caatinga, the Cerrado, the Pantanal, the
Atlantic Rainforest, and the Pampa. All of these biomes demand appropriate and specific attention.
It is estimated that developing countries hold more than 70% of the planet?s
biodiversity, with 20% of the world?s known species located in Brazil alone. In addition, the
country is endowed with rich socio-biodiversity as represented by the more than 200 indigenous
peoples and traditional communities in the country - caiçaras, seringueiros, quilombolas - the true
keepers of the nation?s biodiversity. Valuing the different ways of life contributes to fostering a
diversity of responses to the challenges of sustainable development.

In this context, developing countries, in particular Brazil, assume a relevant role in the
sustainable development effort. Ensuring the optimal use of biodiversity resources requires that
developing countries invest in research and training. To this end, international cooperation is
essential, with special emphasis on adequate public and private financial flows, technology transfers
and capacity building from developed countries. Moreover, opportunities for South-South
cooperation should be considered as well.

An economy founded on valuing biodiversity is viewed by the market as a
distinguishing feature. This new economic perspective, driven by the elements of biodiversity,
builds a new model that values and quantifies natural resources. This approach, which emphasizes
the extent to which natural systems provide goods and services to society, is associated to the notion
that those same systems are limited, a notion not yet incorporated to the language of economic
theory.

Valuing biodiversity is not intended to commercialize the related resources, but
assigning value to them as a way of preventing damage and promoting their rational use and
conservation.

21. Combating desertification

As with climate change and biodiversity, Rio+20 is not intended as a negotiating forum
on the question of desertification, insofar as it has its specific multilateral process in this area,
supported by Brazil, within the framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification.

However, to date the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has not
obtained the necessary results to address the environmental, social, and economic impacts of
desertification. The widely recognized unsatisfactory implementation of the Convention must be
overcome through a greater ethical and political commitment by countries based on new forms of
international cooperation to assist those suffering from the effects of desertification and drought.
Arid and semi-arid regions, with a population of more than one billion people, register
some of the highest poverty levels in the world. In these regions, the natural resource base has
frequently been the target of predatory human activities, which, in many cases, have exacerbated
the phenomenon of desertification. These areas are subject to severe water shortages and food and
nutrition insecurity and are far more vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change.
In this light, Rio+20 offers an opportunity to renew the global understanding on goals
and strategies to spur international efforts to combat desertification, soil degradation, and the effects
of drought from a sustainable development perspective.

22. Water

Sustainable water use is one of the key challenges facing developed and developing
countries alike. In the present-day context, national actions should be guided by more appropriate
water use, with a view to promoting conservation and stimulating the application of more efficient
treatment and recovery methods. At the same time, public policies designed to foster access by
millions of people to drinkable water should be disseminated.

Although there is no specific international inter-governmental forum to address the
issue of water resources, the question is widely discussed within the United Nations and has been
the subject of relevant decisions, including the targets established in Agenda 21, the Millennium
Declaration, and the Johannesburg Summit. The issue has been the subject of wide-ranging
technical and political discussions in an international forum in which representatives of
government, non-governmental organizations, private enterprises, users, financial institutions, and
scientists participate.

Rio+20 offers an exceptional opportunity to promote international debate on sustainable
water use, as well as on the development of potential mechanisms to coordinate achievement of the
decisions and monitoring programmes currently in place at the international level. Additionally, the
Conference could promote the exchange of innovative and successful experiences in sustainable
water use based on the three pillars of sustainable development.

23. Oceans, seas, and coastal areas

In recent decades, the concerns of scientists and conservationists have centred on the
protection of land ecosystems, due, among other reasons, to the fact that the impacts on those
environments are readily visible. However, silently and almost imperceptibly, coastal areas, seas,
and oceans across the world have increasingly suffered the effects of expanded human occupation
and activities.

Management of marine and coastal territories requires an integrated approach that takes
into account the simultaneous convergence of a variety of pressure points, including urbanization,
Energy production, tourism, and fishing. Knowledge and use of living and non-living ocean
resources pose technical, scientific, and institutional challenges. In addition to the challenge of
promoting the sustainable occupation of countries? Exclusive Economic Zones, extensive areas of
the ocean are not under the direct jurisdiction of any nation, a fact which does not diminish the
common interest and responsibility in its discovery, exploration, and conservation.
The threat of climate change is of particular concern to coastal and marine areas, with
the potential for adverse effects depending, to a greater or lesser extent, on local vulnerabilities and
the intensity of the respective phenomena. While wholly local adaptation measures are required,
these demand resources and technologies often beyond the reach of nations.
Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, which is devoted to the protection of oceans, seas, and coastal
areas, provides an extensive discussion of the measures that were to be adopted, yet more than
twenty years later much remains to be done. The issue should receive special attention at Rio+20,
and the problems and opportunities facing coastal and marine regions need to be considered on the
basis of the three pillars of sustainable development.

Rio+20 should clearly signal the need to give priority to the multilateral treatment of the
oceans, including enhanced coherence of the system through the improved effectiveness,
transparency, and response of UN-OCEANS, the mechanism responsible for coordinating the
relevant United Nations agencies.

24. Fishing and aquaculture

Resolving the conflicts over use of potentially scarce resources - farmland and water -
includes valuing aquatic resources through rational fishing and expansion of aquaculture, while not
losing sight of the Energy potential of algae, which could become an important input for bioenergy
production. Rio+20 should offer guidance on the proper harvesting of fisheries within a context
marked by growing global demand for food and evidence of overfishing and the depletion of fish
resources.

Aquaculture is of strategic importance to inclusive sustainable development, since it
creates jobs, constitutes a highly nutritional source of protein, contributes to eliminating hunger and
poverty and promotes food and nutrition security, while preventing deforestation and environmental
degradation.

Government support for sustainable use of fish resources, such as artisanal fishing,
should be strengthened together with the adoption of management plans, fishing exclusion zones,
and marine conservation units for sustainable use, with a view to preserving the regenerative
capacity of the oceans and estuarine ecosystems.

Traditional populations should be given a voice and made a priority in the processes for
planning, building, and implementing these actions, given the long-standing use and ancestral
cultures consolidated in these territories, with a view to making increased fishing and aquaculture
production compatible with the preservation of sustainable traditional use of the oceans and
estuarine areas.

The rational use of water resources requires the adoption of innovative measures for
aquaculture production and for the preservation of estuaries and management of aquatic organisms,
in order to promote sustainable food production and job, work and income creation. These measures
include, among others, the maintenance and recovery of fish stocks to sustainable levels, as well as
greater transparency in fish stock management, and the development of increasingly advanced fish
location and capture technologies and use of previously discarded species. Similarly, a review of the
subsidies that contribute to overfishing is of particular importance in the area of ocean fishing,
without compromising, however, the development of sustainable fishing activities by developing
countries with incipient commercial fishing fleets.

25. Forests

The forest areas distributed across the various regions of the planet perform important
social, economic, and environmental functions. They offer a variety of goods, such as timber and
non-timber forest products, in addition to providing essential environmental services, such as water
resource and soil conservation, biodiversity conservation, and climate stability. Furthermore, forests
are the repositories of cultural values essential for social development and poverty eradication.
The responsible management of all types of forests for sustainable goods and services
production poses a challenge and provides an opportunity for all of society, since it provides a
source for the production of raw materials and biomass for Energy generation, in addition to being a
valuable tool for forest conservation and decent work.

Forest preservation gained prominence through the advances promoted by the United
Nations conventions on Climate Change and Biological Diversity, which attach special emphasis to
the reduction of carbon emissions, biodiversity conservation, and the sharing of the benefits arising
from genetic resources. Brazil has been an active proponent of ideas in connection with the two
Conventions.

Without colliding directly with the specific Conventions, Rio+20 could play a
significant role by emphasizing the value of forests to national economies for the purpose of
preserving environmental services as well as enabling their economic use and, in this way, fostering
the production of goods and services, mitigation of climate change, and, above all, social inclusion.
The effort is critical given the pressure exerted on forests by other predatory activities and the
attendant vicious circle of economic, social, and environmental impoverishment that these activities
engender.

CHAPTER II - GREEN ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION

At this particular crossroads in the world economy, Rio+20 represents an opportunity to
review current development patterns, above all in the light of the inadequate economic, social and
environmental outcomes they have produced to date. It is time to reflect on inclusive economic
growth models based on the incorporation of sectors traditionally excluded from the formal
employment market, on income distribution, and on the construction of a broad social safety net to
ensure that the lowest income segments are provided access to consumption on a sustainable basis.
Rio+20 should strive to renew the commitment of world leaders to sustainable
development as a major goal, capable of reconciling environmental concerns with social needs,
without abdicating the imperative of economic development. For Brazil, the theme of the
Conference - green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication -
implies stimulating the linkages between the general intentions and objectives of sustainable
development with the tangible economy to become, in this way, an instrument for the
implementation of Agenda 21.

To achieve this goal, it is important to underscore the connection between the concept
of green economy and sustainable development, so as to ensure that the green economy concept is
not interpreted as favouring aspects of commercialization of advanced technology solutions over the
pursuit of solutions adapted to the distinct realities of developing countries. Moreover, efforts
should be made to prevent the goals of economic growth and sustainability from being set in
opposition to each other. Thus, a green economy should be an instrument for mobilizing countries
towards sustainable development. This connection could be made by defining green economy as a
sustainable development programme, that is, a set of concrete initiatives, policies, and projects that
contribute to transforming economies by integrating economic development, social development,
and environmental protection.

To ensure that goals of a green economy are met, measures that result in obstacles to
trade must be avoided. Similarly, caution should be taken in adopting environmentally-based trade
measures, given their potential use as protectionist instruments, in particular against the exports of
developing countries.

This vision of inclusion with sustainability could be made clearer and reinforced further
through the concept of ?inclusive green economy,? which would have the effect of drawing the
social dimension to the forefront of the discussion and of the stated goals while effectively
synthesizing the Conference?s theme. The concept of ?inclusive green economy? would provide
space for introducing social policy into the Rio+20 discussion in a more direct and encompassing
manner, conferring, at the same time, a distinctive feature to the Conference and putting forward an
issue in which all countries could participate. Through this important conceptual shift, the focus
would centre on a sustainable development cycle with the incorporation of billions of people to the
economy on the basis of sustainable and feasible consumption of goods and services.
Social protection and promotion policies would secure greater momentum and priority,
generating significant redistributive effects and positive impacts on employment and wages, while
contributing to mitigate the adverse consequences of international economic crises. A number of
social policies could be adopted to this end that combine universal services with assistance to
specific groups in the fields of health, education, social assistance, decent work, and gender, racial,
and ethnic diversity. In the light of high commodity prices and growing climate concerns, policies
to promote and guarantee food and nutrition security could play a central role in ?inclusive green
economy? strategies.

Examples of the integration of economic, environmental, and social strategies which
should be extended and replicated include: programs to transfer income and foster environmental
conservation or recovery, support to population segments engaged in recycling of solid wastes,
dissemination of best agricultural practices based on technologies accessible to small establishments
and family farmers, and incorporation of more Energy efficient technologies in low-income housing
programmes. Work, employment, and income generation programmes - through the concession of
financing for production - and productive and targeted microcredit arrangements are just two
examples of policy instruments employed in the Brazilian experience that could contribute to
fostering the inclusive green economy.

These approaches are also applicable to developed countries in which income
concentration grew significantly in recent decades. Stagnating wages and reduced social benefits
have placed those countries on a negative path. The inclusive green economy could help those
countries restore income levels for the lowest earning segments of their societies through
implementation of a new consumption pattern that is more responsible and sustainable. This would
require a cultural and ethical shift committed to combating waste and promoting the reutilization of
resources.

CHAPTER III - INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The consensus forged on the links between the three pillars of sustainable development
- economic, social, and environmental - was one of the Earth Summit´s great achievements.
Consequently, the development strategies of national Governments, on the one hand, and the long-
term initiatives of international organizations, on the other, should be aimed at fulfilling this
consensus.

As a result of the current global economic crisis, the need to incorporate sustainability
to the activities of private actors and to the formulation of public policies has taken on added
urgency, because in times of austerity, as now, financial resources for environmental protection will
be in short supply if the issue is treated separately from the global strategic planning process.
At the national level, States must unify their actions and their words on the drive for
sustainability not only at the various levels of government (national and sub-national) and among
the various branches of government (in the Brazilian case, the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial
Branches), but most particularly in the many areas of actions of the Executive Branch.

Intergovernmental institutions are guided by their Member States. However, these
assume different positions in each institution, leading to uncoordinated and, often, opposing
directives. Unifying the positions of individual States within the various international organisms
would go a long way to imbuing the system with greater coherence and consistency.
Similarly, international organizations should base their activities on an integrated view
of development. To ensure sustainability is incorporated, in practice, in the activities and functions
of economic, social, and environmental institutions, the creation of a permanent high-level
mechanism to coordinate international institutions acting in the area of development is called for.
Through this three-way process - internal coherence at the national level, coherence
from individual States within intergovernmental institutions, and coherence at the global inter-
institutional level - more effective integration of the three pillars of development would be possible.
It is particularly important to note the fragmented nature of the governance structures
underlying international financing for sustainable development. These structures include agencies
and programmes of the United Nations, multilateral development banks, multi-donor trust funds,
regional initiatives, and international cooperation agencies in developed and developing countries.
Yet, notwithstanding the diversity of institutions and instruments, the challenges of sustainability
are far from being resolved.

Despite advances on this front, funding remains unpredictable and undermines stable
programmes and actions aimed at achieving long-term outcomes. The difficulty in accessing
resources - which are not sufficient to meet the effective financial needs of developing countries -
continues to pose one of the key obstacles to the implementation of development decisions.
Similarly, the alignment of official financing with the priorities of partner countries is inadequate,
often resulting in undue interference in domestic priorities involving the imposition of values,
models, and technologies - above all, in the least developed countries.

The proliferation of mechanisms and actors has led to overlapping and redundant
actions, even to contradictory initiatives. A large number of efforts that could be directed to target
activities are steered toward repetitive or excessive bureaucratic policies and processes of different
development partners. In this context, discussion of a new and more effective institutional financing
framework is imperative. It requires moving forward with the implementation of the principles
agreed to in the Monterrey Declaration, above all with respect to governance reforms and the
effective participation of developing countries in multilateral forums.

Concrete mechanisms need to be established to coordinate and to foster partnerships
between the various agencies and institutions, with a view to promoting synergies. In addition,
intermediation with civil society at the international level should be inclusive and provide for
adequate representation of developing countries, a plurality of views, geographic representation,
and local engagement.

CHAPTER IV - PROPOSALS BY BRAZIL FOR RIO+20

P1. Global Socio-Environmental Protection Programme

Brazil proposes the creation of a Global Socio-Environmental Protection Programme.
The aim of the programme is to guarantee income as a means of overcoming extreme poverty
throughout the world and of promoting essential actions that will be capable of guaranteeing the
quality of the environment, nutrition security, adequate housing and access to clean water for all
The programme would seek to ensure that all multilateral structures operate in ways that
deliberately facilitate access to technology, financial resources, infrastructure and skill building to
ensure that everyone is guaranteed food and water in adequate quantity and quality, and a healthy
environment. At the center of the programme would be a strategy to guarantee income, adapted to
each country?s conditions. The programme is socio-environmental by definition insofar as it brings
together, in a single set of actions, equal in priority, the social and environmental protection
objectives that converge on the beneficiary populations.

At a moment of international crisis, when vast global sums are being mobilized to
recover the financial system, the programme would place its emphasis, instead, on the social
component that has been so vital in the Brazilian solution for facing the crisis.

As part of the Brazilian experience, investments in social protection and development
have been intensified and strengthened - by expanding programmes like Bolsa Família [Family
Grant] and Luz para Todos [Light for All], and the creation of others like Minha Casa, Minha Vida
[My Home, My Life] and Brasil sem Miséria [Brazil Without Extreme Poverty], which includes the
Bolsa Verde [Green Grant] -.Brazil has also reiterated its commitment to environmental protection,
visible in the significant drop achieved in deforestation in the Amazon, in the announcement of its
national commitment to reducing emissions and in its increased investment in sanitation.
The goal of the programme is to achieve a situation in which quality of life and
environmental conditions are fully incorporated into the rights of poor populations. That goal per se
is a platform for global dialogue that could represent a crucial step towards sustainable development
with strong potential for boosting the outstanding role of multilateralism.

Economic inclusion on a massive scale is an innovative model, and one that fosters
growth. The socio-environmental concept recognizes the truly strategic nature of those issues that
not only constitute the core of the challenge to sustainable development but also produce intense
impacts on the majority of the population.

P2. Sustainable Development Goals

Based on an inclusive green economy, instead of complex negotiations seeking to
establish restrictive and binding goals, objectives infused with a spirit of guidance and addressing a
wide range of issues could be established, similarly to the Millennium Goals, in areas where there is
already a high degree of convergence of opinions, which would be capable of providing impetus
and guidance to the countries towards sustainable development. This instrument could clearly
indicate the macro-objectives that are being sought and allow society to follow them, make its
demands and contribute to their achievement.

Thus, while an inclusive green economy programme would establish a group of
concrete initiatives focused on national and international cooperation instruments, guiding political
commitments would identify the priority goals for sustainable development. Those objectives, in
turn, would guide the policies and actions of countries, international organizations, multilateral
development banks and other public and private actors, inducing the adoption of more sustainable
behaviours with an established horizon - for example, 2030.

The strategic areas of those commitments could be defined at first, setting in motion a
broad participatory process, from which the effective objectives would gradually emerge. Issues
such as urban development, health and water would reinforce the Millennium Development Goals
while incorporating much broader aspects of sustainable development.

In a more ambitious spirit, the definition of certain objectives with high capacity for
aggregation - ?Ten Sustainable Development Goals?, for example - could be achieved at the
Rio+20 Conference itself after negotiating the strategic issues during the preparatory process.
Establishing Sustainable Development Goals, however, needs to obey certain criteria.

The Sustainable Development Goals must not be expected to replace the Millennium Development
Goals, but rather, to complement them and bring them up to date. Like the Millennium Goals, the
Sustainable Development Goals need to contain concrete objectives that are quantifiable and
verifiable with specified deadlines and giving due consideration to national realities and priorities.
They could subsequently be transformed into indicators to monitor achievement. The goals should
be universal in nature, targeting developed and developing countries in equal measure. The
Sustainable Development Goals must be based, whenever possible, on existing documents that have
already been the object of agreement; the Agenda 21 for example, and other products of the various
multilateral forums that provide a great deal of material to engender discussions. In that way,
reopening debates on issues that have already been agreed to can be avoided. For each goal, there
should be clear indications of the concrete means of attaining it.

Some of the Sustainable Development Goals could be associated to:

· Eradication of extreme poverty

· Food and nutrition security

· Access to decent work (socially fair and environmentally correct)

· Access to appropriate sources of Energy

· Equality - intra-generational, inter-generational, among countries and within them

· Gender and the empowerment of women

· Micro-entrepreneurship and micro-credit

· Innovation for sustainability

· Access to appropriate sources of water

· Adjustment of the ecological footprint to the planet?s capacity of regeneration

P3. Global Pact for Sustainable Production and Consumption

Brazil proposes that Rio+20 should adopt a Global Pact for Sustainable Production and
Consumption, taking as its reference framework the progress achieved in the sphere of the
Marrakech Process. The Global Pact for Sustainable Production and Consumption is a set of
initiatives that seek to foster changes in production and consumption patterns in various sectors.
Initiatives could be adopted, on a priority basis, offering political support to:
P3. A. Sustainable Public Procurement

Policies for sustainable public procurement are based on the premise that governments
can play an outstanding role in changing sustainability patterns in production and consumption. The
acquisition of goods and services by public bodies - the so-called public contracting or public
procurement - represents a significant share of the international economy; around 15% of the Gross
Global Product. Adopting horizontal criteria that foster the useful product life-cycle, for example, or
their re-use and recycling, or the reduction of toxic emissions, the reduction of raw materials and
Energy consumption, or measures that benefit small-scale farmers or extractive communities, would
all have a significant impact in promoting sustainable development. The use of such social and
environmental sustainability criteria in government contracting processes could also foster the
adoption of sustainable production patterns by private entities, creating market and guaranteeing
scale for the implementation of new technology.

With all due recognition of the sovereign nature of each country?s decisions on its
purchasing policies, Rio+20 could, nevertheless, encourage national initiatives in the field of
sustainable public procurement and promote an intense exchange of related knowledge and
experience within the sphere of the discussions on Sustainable Production and Consumption. The
Conference must also strive to imbue the issue with political impetus, declaring it to be a principle
that should underpin public administration. In that sense, Rio+20 could provide the opportunity for
countries to present their national sustainable procurement plans and, in doing so, stimulate the
discussion of a conceptual framework into which such plans can be inserted, guaranteeing the
necessary safeguards to ensure that they are unfolded in a transparent and non-discriminatory
manner and in compliance with respective national legislations.

P3. B. Efficient Energy Consumption Labelling

The Rio+20 Conference could promote the Energy consumption and Energy
efficiency labelling programmes employed by various countries, including Brazil. This measure
enables private entities, notably consumers, to evaluate and optimize the fuel/Energy consumption
of their appliances and achieve savings in Energy costs.

On the basis of the various national Energy efficiency initiatives, many of them
voluntary, a proposal could be put forward to create an international multi-sector initiative. It would
be necessary to examine any existing international standards to see if they could constitute the
foundation for such a process.

P3. C. Funding for Study and Research on Sustainable Development

In an effort to qualify high-level human resources (technical, undergraduate and
graduate) and provide support for scientific, technological and innovative projects, fellowships,
study grants and scholarships, largely backed by public financing, have considerable powers of
inducement. In recognition of that fact, countries could come to an agreement that sustainable
development and the inclusive green economy will be priority considerations in determining the
concession of financing for science, technology and innovation and could consider the possible
allocation of a target percentage of resources to be dedicated to those areas.

Under this same initiative the possibility could be examined of creating an institute
attached to the United Nations University and dedicated to studies on the trends of sustainable
development and the common future of humanity.

P4. Repository of Initiatives

However indispensable new research and new solutions may be, much of the
technology and many of the practices needed to achieve sustainable development are actually
already available. There are innumerable examples of successful ventures in the areas of urban
development, sustainable consumption, health, housing, sanitation, Energy efficiency, sustainable
agriculture, and others. Important lessons have been learned from both the successes and the
mistakes made in the process. Thus, what is needed now is to disseminate these experiences and to
increase their scale.

One suggested product for the Conference could be the establishment of a mechanism
specially designed to disseminate good practices, such as a repository of ideas and tried and tested
initiatives. Such a repository, closely linked to an international secretariat and, if possible, actually
based on a pre-existing organization, could harmonize and classify information on successful
initiatives presented by countries, to facilitate their adoption and use by other countries and by the
mechanisms of international cooperation. By maintaining an active dialogue between its secretariat
and the member-States, the repository could examine the conditions that made each experience
successful and thereby establish the pre-conditions for its successful replication and any
singularities that could lead to its non-recommendation.

Thus the focus would be on the characteristics associated to feasibility. There could also
be an evaluation of the initiative?s potential for integration with existing programs and with the
social needs of the countries that seek to replicate it. Furthermore, the secretariat could provide
technical assistance to developing countries in preparing their projects and in elaborating the
structures for monitoring them. The experiences compiled in this manner would boost national
mechanisms and those of international cooperation, including the use of resources of multilateral
organizations, by facilitating project preparation. However, the body directly responsible for the
repository would not be a direct funder, to avoid the risk of distorting its objectives through the
expectation of beneficiaries of accessing financial resources or through donors taking control of the
mechanism.

P5. International Protocol for the Sustainability of the Financial Sector

The financial sector has a unique capacity for stimulus and inducement in the economic
arena. In recognition of that capacity, various national and international initiatives have been
developed in recent decades for the adoption of more responsible social and environmental
standards. In the international sphere, in 2002, on the initiative of the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the private branch of the World Bank, the Equator Principles were established.
This set of principles is used by the 72 signatory financial institutions as a framework for risk
evaluation, assessment and management in all their projects involving outlays of over 10 million
US dollars.

In 1995, Brazilian public banks signed a Letter of Intent, known as the ?Green
Protocol?, which was updated in 2008 and signed by private banks in 2009, through the Federation
of Brazilian Banks. In signing the Green Protocol, the signatory institutions committed themselves
to include the environmental dimension in all their risk analysis and project evaluation procedures
and also to give priority to actions designed to support sustainable development.

The great challenge that Rio+20 faces is how to expand the scale of all those
experiences. The Brazilian Green Protocol has a far greater scope than the Equator Principles and
could be the basis for launching an initiative with a wider extent and commitment of countries to
adopt it.

P6. New Indicators for Measuring Development

The quest for the full implementation of sustainable development must be guided by a
clear understanding of the reasons that have kept the concept from being effectively put into
practice over the last twenty years. One of the underlying reasons is that the implementation of
sustainable development has never been endowed with sufficiently clear, practical or measurable
means. This has led to sustainable development being seen much more as a cost than a benefit,
particularly because it has constantly been identified as an environmental issue associated to the
environmental sector alone.

The most widely recognized systems for measuring development are the Human
Development Index (HDI) and the Gross National Product (GNP). As measurements of sustainable
development such metrics are obviously inadequate insofar as they fail to integrate the great
diversity of social and environmental aspects with the economic values and consequently induce
erroneous perceptions of the extent of development and progress made by the respective countries.
The HDI is certainly a step forward insofar as it attempts to indicate the state of well-being of
populations, but it too is incomplete because it fails to include questions associated to scarcity of
natural resources and to economic development. Furthermore, it is an initiative that is peripheral to
the economic system.

Because development is measured on the basis of a very narrow set of indicators, public
and private agents alike are led, voluntarily or involuntarily, to develop actions that are destined to
generate equally imperfect results.

Brazil supports the establishment of a process to set new ways of measuring progress
that reflect the environmental, social and economic facets of development. This process should have
a clearly defined period for its completion, that is, for all the relevant actors to become engaged;
and it should be constructed on the basis of already existing experiences. The process of revising
the metrics must be conducted with caution and must avoid the proposal of indices that are overly
complex, or that have too many components

P7. The Inclusive Green Economy Pact

P7. A. Sustainability Reports

Several corporations have voluntarily adopted the practice of regularly publicizing
actions that reveal their concern and sense of responsibility with regard to sustainability. This
corporate practice of publishing sustainability reports is not only directed at company shareholders
but also at a variety of other target audiences, including their employees, the media, the
government, consumers, and civil society in general. Thus it constitutes both an image strategy and
strategic positioning by the company. Such reports do not only publicize, but also encourage and
disseminate sustainable experiences and, in that way, stimulate and disseminate the adoption of
good practices.

An initiative designed to expand this practice could be agreed to at the Rio+20
Conference, whereby state-run companies, development banks, sponsors of private pension funds,
open capital companies and large corporations could publish complete, timely and objective reports
on their activities that, in addition to the usual economic-financial aspects, must include information
on their social and environmental performance and corporate governance. Such a measure would
make a significant contribution to getting these issues firmly included on the strategic agendas of
major organizations and, thus, help to foster an inclusive green economy.

P7. B. Sustainability Indices

In recent years, many investors have gone beyond their concern for economic
sustainability and begin to pay attention to the social and environmental sustainability of companies
as well, in the belief that those aspects also generate value for shareholders in the long run. The
result has been that several initiatives have been launched to identify the more sustainable
corporations.

In 2005 in Brazil, BM&FBOVESPA established a Corporate Sustainability index that
measures the return on share portfolios of companies renowned for their commitment to
sustainability. Another index, launched in 2010, the Carbon Efficient Index, (ICO2), recalculates
the IBrX (an indicator related to 50 of the most actively traded securities on the Brazilian Stock
Exchange) and the recalculation takes into account the companies? greenhouse gas emissions.
Based on experiences like these, a discussion could be promoted regarding the possible
adoption of comparable sustainability indices as references for stock exchange investments. Indices,
like the sustainability reports, would widen the focus of attention on company performance and
boost the adoption of good corporate practices.

Special attention must be paid to indicators that are capable of detecting structural
trends, or long-term tendencies in regard to the compatibility of the company or its business
activities with the sustainable development paradigm. Among the metrics that could be useful
would be measuring the ratio between production increases and impacts generated and/or excessive
demands on natural resources

P8. Proposals on the Institutional Framework for Sustainable
Development

Any effort that is intended to endow the institutional arrangement for sustainable
development with greater coherence must make the provision of real incentives its main goal so that
existing institutions can start to work towards common objectives and pursue them using
convergent strategies and coordinated activities. To do so, it is essential to develop an integrated
information platform with information on sustainable development issues and also to adopt specific
mandates for international bodies to establish joint programmes and strategies enabling them to
address cross-cutting problems in an integrated manner.

The creation of a high-level permanent coordination mechanism among all the
international institutions that address development would be an effective initiative that could have
considerable political impact.

The coordination mechanism could draw on the experience of the meetings that are
being promoted by ECOSOC with Bretton Woods institutions, the WTO and UNCTAD since the
Monterrey Conference. It would, however, represent an advance in relation to those meetings, as it
would provide the political dimension so necessary to true coordination. The coordination
mechanism could hold a meeting twice a year on the fringes of the United Nations General
Assembly and the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Another effect of adopting the coordination mechanism would be the attribution of responsibility
for institutional coherence to the Member States themselves. The secretariats of the various
institutions and conventions connected to the issue of sustainable development, which are often
faced with the need to carry out that task, would actually have more resources available to enable
them to effectively implement the decisions and commitments made by the Member States.

P8. B. Reform of the United Nations Economic and Social Council

(ECOSOC), transforming the body into the United Nations Sustainable
Development Council

Twenty years after the Earth Summit, which was the year when the concept of
sustainable development really took hold, there is global consensus that the United Nations and the
countries that compose it have shown themselves to be incapable of offering an all-embracing,
coordinated and coherent approach to the implementation of that idea and of the immense set of
actions, policies, plans and strategies that have been developed to that end.
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was intended to
be a high level sustainable development forum but in fact it was created, from the beginning, in a
relatively low hierarchical sphere and lacked the necessary means and political force that would
enable it to play the expected coordinating role, so that its actions have been fairly ineffective and
inconsistent in regard to its goals and objectives.

ECOSOC is the natural place to start thinking about reforms in the field of governance
for sustainable development. It is one of the United Nations? principal bodies, as it coordinates the
economic and social actions of 14 other specialized agencies, regional commissions and functional
commissions and also receives reports from eleven programs and funds. The council itself has
calculated that its mandate is so vast that it actually involves 70% of the United Nations? human and
financial resources. Its institutional framework, however, which was conceived when the nature of
global problems was much clearer, has made ECOSOC impotent in the face of today?s problems.
Rio+20 could launch a process to reform the ECOSOC so that the council could become
the central forum for sustainable development discussions, treating the social, environmental and
economic dimensions of the issue with an even hand and enjoying enough political backing to
enable it to offer guidance and coordination to all the UN system?s actions in the field of sustainable
development.

P8. C. Perfecting International Environmental Governance:

Establishing Universal Membership and Mandatory Contributions to UNEP

Perfecting international environmental governance does not mean pre-judging or
excluding the need to strengthen the other pillars of sustainable development. Furthermore, in
Brazil?s view, the discussions on governance for sustainable development and environmental
governance are neither alternative nor opposing but complementary. Accordingly, Brazil defends
the idea that the results of Rio+20 should include the strengthening of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).

UNEP was created forty years ago and designed in the context of the environmental
challenges of that time. Nowadays, however, the sheer size of the global environmental crisis calls
for an institutional model far better equipped to address all the new challenges.
Part of the problem stems from the large number of UN agencies and programmes that
are active in the environmental field but that lack the necessary coordination and this has led to
overlapping, duplication of initiatives and an inadequate allocation of the scanty resources that are
available.

This means that Rio+20 must make progress in the debate and in the various processes
that have already been established to address the question of international environmental
governance. At the very least, it will have to make decisions about establishing universal
membership in the UNEP Governing Council and on mandatory contributions, according to a scale
that will be established along the same lines as the other organizations under the aegis of the United
Nations.

Establishing universal membership in UNEP is a measure that has been under
discussion for a long time now and, in practice, there are no disadvantages to it. It could actually
aggregate an important element of political reinforcement to the Programme. Furthermore, adopting
it would not be a pre-judgment of any other question or decision in the complex debate revolving
around international environmental governance, which calls for more wide-reaching institutional
reforms and additional actions in various other spheres.

The justification for changing the contribution criteria lies in the fact that many of
UNEP?s current difficulties stem from the lack of stable and reliable funding mechanisms:
Programme funding is actually based on voluntary contributions from the United Nations Member
States.

That unpredictable and highly discretionary financial arrangement has jeopardized the
organization?s financial stability and impaired its ability to plan beyond the budget cycle in course.
It also jeopardizes the Programme?s autonomy insofar as it becomes very dependent on certain
Member States, who, in turn exert an undesirable influence on UNEP?s agenda. The last few years
have witnessed a substantial reduction in the voluntary contributions to the UNEP environment
fund and these have increasingly come to be replaced by ?rubber stamp? contributions that now
represent a considerable proportion of the total UNEP budget.

P8. D. Launch of negotiations on a Global Convention on Access to
Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making, and Access to Justice on
Environmental Matters

Support is proposed for setting in motion a negotiating process at Rio+20, for a global
Convention that will ensure the implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration which
establishes that ?Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned
citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on
hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in
decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation
by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative
proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.?

This principle has already been the object of regional instruments designed to increase
opportunities to access environmental information and ensure the transparency and reliability of
procedures. Such mechanisms contribute towards improving environmental governance by
introducing the element of mutual confidence in the relations between civil society and
governments, including the decision-making bodies in the sub-national authorities. The process of
developing an instrument of this kind must be able to count on the participation of all civil society
sectors and all spheres of government.

The proposal to launch a negotiating process for a global convention on access to
information, public participation in decision-making processes and access to justice in
environmental matters applies to national States (multilateral agreement with national
implementation). Even though many national States already base their decisions on some degree of
participation of non-governmental stakeholders, that perspective is still far from being present in the
multilateral system.

In that context, it would be desirable that the Rio+20 Conference, with due respect paid
to the principles of multilateralism and the sovereignty of States, should achieve among its results
the promotion of effective and creative connections between the non-governmental world and the
multilateral decision processes, improving the multilateral decision-making process which is
currently based strictly on inter-governmental decisions. The attempts to make the participation of
the non-governmental world in multilateral processes feasible have so far been very modest or have
been merely pro forma, in a bid to legitimize processes in which, strictly speaking, their presence
has had no real effect. One great result for Rio+20 would be to revert this situation and recognize
the demands, aspirations and proposals of actors, both individuals and organizations, that are not
just influenced by, but also profoundly influence the ways in which the international community
organizes itself.

P8. F. Water Governance

Currently there are several United Nations agencies and programmes addressing the
question of water resources. However, in spite of the creation of the inter-agencies mechanism UN-
WATER, the responses in terms of efficiency, coherence and coordination have been ineffective in
influencing the development of the agenda of UN system agencies and very modest in comparison
with the real problems that the countries have to face.
To overcome this situation, the UN?s water resource management system needs to be
reinforced towards a more integrated approach to the various aspects of the sustainable use of water.
The discussion should also take into account the existing initiatives outside the sphere of the United
Nations system in which governments, the private sector, development banks and multilateral
bodies all participate.

CONCLUSION

The Rio+20 Conference is a unique opportunity to identify long-term solutions for
challenges the world faces right now. Sustainable development involves three areas that have been
undergoing very serious crises in the last few years: the economic area, affected by the financial
sector crisis that is raging in the developed countries and threatening growth in the developing
world; the social area, where stability in employment and access to the most basic goods has still
not been guaranteed to a large part of the world?s population; and lastly, crisis in the environmental
area created by the excessive pressure on natural resources and the consequences of climate change.
Any coherent, coordinated stand against those crises will necessarily have to involve the
actions of a whole variety of social actors. National governments play a key role and local
governments will also be fundamental. Another essential factor will be the continuous
empowerment of civil society through the mediation of social movements, workers and business
organizations, academia, and non-governmental organizations. The role of individuals should also
not be underestimated, particularly because they are at liberty to exercise their freedom of choice,
which endows them with considerable power in the evolution of sustainable development.
All these actors need to be increasingly aware of the importance of a long-term vision,
bearing in mind that many of the responses that have been preferred in addressing these crises have
concentrated predominantly on short and medium-term actions.

The challenge of finding long-term solutions should be particularly reflected in
multilateral discussions. While groups like the G20 get together once a year to find urgent solutions,
as crises unfold, the Rio+20 Conference, is part of a set of conferences that are only held every ten
or twenty years and accordingly it needs to concentrate on solutions that are projected much further
into the future.

Brazil expects a number of conclusions from Rio+20 that will contribute to
strengthening sustainable development as a paradigm for all relevant stakeholders in the economic,
social and environmental areas. The equilibrium among the three pillars of sustainable development
will be further strengthened by the Conference if it brings in concrete results in the following areas:
1) In the realm of local and national actions, sustainable development strategies
formulated by countries, and regions (in Brazil?s case, states and municipalities) conceived in light
of national and local specificities, with clear identification of exactly what can and must be done;
2) At the multilateral level, significant progress in strengthening sustainable
development from the point of view of action, governance and information, by means of:

a) Sustainable Development Goals that will determine the areas where
national and international cooperation efforts need to be concentrated with a view to
fostering sustainable development and taking equity among nations into due
consideration;

b) Governance structure that ensures that the concept of sustainable
development is given due consideration as a paradigm by all the United Nations
system?s specialized agencies and organizations, including the World Bank and the
World Trade Organization. This structure could promote integrated analyses of the
already vast store of sector knowledge (Energy, finance, population, environment,
agriculture and others), thereby improving the interpretation of the links among the
different sectors and making coherent actions feasible in the economic, social and
environmental areas.

Through decisions that ensure suitable treatment of sustainable development in national
and local strategies, in objectives and in multilateral governance, with a significant level of
understanding of inter-relations among the various sectors, the Rio+20 Conference can go beyond
the universalization of the Rio Principles and to consolidate Sustainable Development as a long-
term response to address economic, social and environmental crises.